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Beauty In Unfinished Edges

~ Always be reminded that life is full of unfinished edges and to find the beauty in it.

Beauty In Unfinished Edges

Category Archives: Food

My Vegan Diet

02 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by elizabethjones2411 in Food

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

#healthyeating, animals, diet, earth, eat plants, health, Lifestyle, vegan, veganism

About a year and a half ago I decided to cut out animal products fully for the first time. I had gone without dairy for a short time before this, gave it up and then went for it again. I decided to go vegan to help improve my digestive health. It didn’t take long for me to notice changes like weight loss, reduced pain and inflammation, better sleep, and more energy. Shortly after that I also went gluten free. This was a lot harder for me to do, and still is, but again I saw many changes that push me to keep going with it. My digestion/GERD is controlled a lot more when I stay away from gluten. I have zero bloat and even less pain and inflammation. For as much as I see and feel the benefits in maintaining a gluten free diet, I am focusing this post on my reasons and choices to go vegan.

I will be honest, I am not 100% vegan/plant-based all of the time. I’m human and have weaknesses. One of them is food. I happen to love food. I like cooking for my family and trying new recipes but I get bored easily making the same things over and over again. And I’m lazy, sometimes. Sometimes I just don’t have it in me to put in the effort it takes to plan and prep my food so I will do what’s easiest. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not hard to to cook a vegan meal. But sometimes I don’t feel like doing it. I know I’m not the only one out there who feels this way! It has taken me a while to realize that I don’t have to be perfect all the time so I don’t beat myself up over it, too much anyway. I do know there are people who are 100% vegan always. That is amazing and great, and maybe one day I will be there. But for now I am happy that I am about 90% vegan. Sometimes I will have real cheese or eggs. Sometimes I will have some meat, usually fish/seafood or, *GASP* a hot dog or gyro. I haven’t had lunch meat in so long because the last time I did it tasted awful. The same goes for chicken, beef or pork. It honestly grosses me out and if I do attempt to eat it, I end up spitting it out. It just doesn’t taste good to me. Unfortunately, I have always leaned towards the super bad for you meats like the hot dogs, salami, and processed stuff.

Like I said before, I chose to start eating a vegan diet for health reasons. However, this quickly changed. As I started watching documentaries and reading up on the vegan lifestyle, I came to learn about the dairy and meat industries. I was appalled at not only what was being done to animals, but what was being done to the food that we are supposed to be putting in our bodies. Listen, I get it. I get that humans have been eating meat for hundreds and thousands of years. I believe in the Hunter/Gatherer system. It makes sense. But there is a HUGE difference in the way our ancestors consumed animal products and the way we Americans do now. We weren’t made to consume as much meat as we do, first of all. We weren’t made to consume such processed meat as we do. Here’s something that really strikes a chord with me. What do the animals that you consume eat? Grass. They eat plants. WHAT? The animals are getting their nutrients solely from plants?! These days, the “best for you beef” is GRASS fed beef. If plants are good enough for the animals to eat, then why don’t I just eat the plants? Guess what, if they can do it, I can do it. I am cutting out the middle man, or middle animal if you will, and going straight to the source. One more tidbit: did you know that hot dogs, lunch meats, and red meat are categorized as carcinogens? That means cancer causing. The same category as smoking, asbestos and plutonium*. Why would I want to do that to my body?

I started reducing the amount of dairy my kids consumed years ago, when the older two were still in elementary school. I started reading and hearing about hormones in cow’s milk and it didn’t sit well with me to have my kids drink it all the time. Was I super strict about it? No, I wasn’t. However, I was conscious of it. The more and more I thought about it, the less consuming cow’s milk made sense. I’m not a cow, why do I need to drink a cow’s milk? Humans are the ONLY species that drinks another species milk. Why? Because we are told to? That’s not enough reason for me. Take a look into the dairy industry and I guarantee you’ll second guess that ice cream you’re eating. Not only that but really sit back and think about how and why milk is produced. There are tons of diary brands that proudly label their products as “No Hormones Added” but guess what? Milk is produced because of hormones. So even if that momma cow, who just had her baby calf ripped from her, wasn’t given extra hormones, her milk is still full of hormones because that’s how her body made the milk to begin with. So either way, added or not, you’re drinking/eating/consuming cow hormones. Those hormones are then in turn affecting your body. I don’t know about you but I have a hard enough time managing my own hormones, I don’t need another species hormones in the mix. One more thought on cow’s milk. Puss. Yes, puss. Because of continuous pregnancies and excessive milking, cows can develop mastitis. Mastitis is an infection in the milk ducts of the udders. This causes blood and puss to enter the milk. Grossed out yet? If not, here you go…in the US, the FDA allows 750 million puss cells in every liter of milk*. You are drinking puss from a cow. How does that puss affect us? Think mucus, inflammation, sinus problems and a variety of other problems. Why do you think doctors will recommend a decrease in dairy consumption when you have cold? Because the milk creates mucus and phlegm and that makes it harder to breathe. Just another reason for me to stay away from it.

Now, whether or not you believe in climate change, it is a proven fact that animal agriculture has a negative effect on our planet. In fact, animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation*. Not only that but take into consideration the amount of land, water and energy used to produce meat and animal products. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce just one pound of meat*. That’s one pound. Think about how many pounds of meat are consumed DAILY across the US. If health reasons or the treatment of animals doesn’t effect you enough to change you, maybe the destruction of our planet will. It might not seem like you, just one person, would make a difference by changing your diet. But I’m here to tell you, even just small changes make a big difference. Unfortunately there is a lot we need to change to help the status of our planet from reducing waste, reducing the use of single use plastics, and reducing animal agriculture. But I do think that with education and small changes over a period of time, we can make a difference!

My choice to consume a mostly vegan diet evolved from needing to improve my health to becoming very conscious about the effects of consuming animal products not only for myself, but for the animals and the planet. I like to think of it as a trifecta. Health, animal cruelty, and bio responsibility. I am happy to say that over time my family has also become very aware of my efforts and reasons to maintain this lifestyle. I had a lot to do with it by encouraging them to watch documentaries with me and become educated as well. We talk about food openly and because of this my husband has changed the way he thinks about food and what he is consuming, my teenage daughter doesn’t complain about not having all the food she really wants and appreciates my efforts to help keep her healthy, and the toddler has become a great eater (for as much as a toddler can be) and enjoys his veggies. We don’t buy meat anymore, or milk. In fact, is very rare that we have any dairy or meat products in the house. I know not everyone fully understands and that is okay. But if I have helped educate at least one person with this post, then my job is done!

For me, I really do find the beauty and satisfaction in eating plants for myself, the animals, and the planet. Here is a small list of where to start if you are inclined to educate yourself! The following are documentaries that I highly recommend: What The Health, Forks Over Knives, Cowspiracy, and The Game Changers. I will work to put more of a list of resources together for you!

Love,

Elizabeth

Sources

*https://www.check4cancer.com/news/335-world-health-organisation-identifies-processed-meat-a-carcinogen

*https://www.alv.org.au/cow-truth/17-reasons-to-wean-yourself-from-milk-today/

*https://www.cowspiracy.com/facts

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Fast and Easy Veggie Soup

24 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by elizabethjones2411 in Food

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

dinner, fast and easy, gluten free, soup, vegan, veggie soup

Here it is friends. The fastest, easiest, tastiest veggie soup there is. Not only is it all of those things, it is vegan and can be made to be gluten free as well (mine is!). Sometimes you want soup but don’t want the unhealthy, super processed can version. Sometimes you want a fast and healthy dinner. This is all that and more! Did I mention it is super inexpensive to make?? I promise you will like it, even my three year old gobbled it up!

I’m going to spare you all and jump right to the recipe because that’s really what you’re hear for, right?!?

Ingredients

Carton of vegetable broth
Medium onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 small potatoes, diced
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
About 6 oz tomato sauce
1 box of pasta of choice (we use gluten free pasta)
Pepper to taste
Cilantro for garnish (optional, but it is awesome!)

Directions

  1. Add onion to heated oiled pan. Saute until translucent. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Add potatoes and continue cooking and stirring for about 4 minutes.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients except for pasta and cilantro. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes.
  3. Cook pasta while the soup is simmering. I don’t like to cook pasta in the soup because I find it gets too soggy for my liking.
  4. Once pasta and soup are done simply add to a bowl and garnish with cilantro. It is so refreshing!

Hopefully this helps with finding the beauty in making dinner, enjoy!

Elizabeth

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Creamy Potato Dill Soup

21 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by elizabethjones2411 in Food

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#homemade, creamy potato dill soup, dill vitality essential oil, essential oils, vegan, young living

Saturday night my husband and I went out to a nice local restaurant, which is known for its seafood, to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I already knew I was going to stray from my vegan diet for the night. I love seafood and I told myself that every once in a while it is perfectly okay to fall off the diet, especially for special occasions like celebrating love LOL!

I ended up choosing a shrimp and scallops dish with sautéed veggies, mashed potatoes and a creamy potato dill soup. I had never had this kind of soup and was pretty excited to try it as I recently discovered how much I actually love dill. It’s become somewhat of an obsession and if you haven’t tried Dill and Black Pepper Popcorn, hit me up and I will hook you up!! I was nervous about indulging in this soup because I wasn’t sure how my stomach would handle the cream in the soup and the milk and butter in the potatoes. When my soup came I dug right in. OH MY! It was so delicious, I was in heaven and I am ecstatic to say that I had zero tummy problems the next day!!! This vegan diet is doing wonders for me!

I knew right away that I HAD to learn how to make this at home, but a vegan version. A day or two later I grabbed the almond milk soup base from my pantry to see how I could use it. I ended up grabbing it two weeks ago from the grocery store in the off-chance I might need or want it for a new recipe. Low and behold, right there on the carton is a recipe for creamy potato soup! I also decided to use my handy-dandy tool, Pinterest to see how adding a dill component would work. I didn’t look too long though, instead I just looked through my cabinets and came up with something I thought might work. Enter……my Young Living Dill Vitality essential oil. *insert happy dance here*

Now here is the part where I wanted to say how amazing my soup was and how jazzed I felt to have recreated such a yummy dish. I really wanted to do that. But I’m not going to and this is why…I’m not a chef. Nor am I a food blogger or recipe developer. I’m not even a veteran vegan. I am just an okay home cook trying out a vegan diet to improve health and wellness and who really enjoys cooking meals for my family, when they actually eat them, and who loves the satisfaction of making things from scratch. Not only that, but I don’t want to mislead you or be fake. I had a real life experience and I want to share that not some glorified version of what happened in hopes you will follow me. I still hope you’ll love what I’ve provided you, but I what I really hope is that you’ll appreciate the honesty and maybe even help me out with some tips to make my dream soup even dreamier!!

With that said, my soup came out okay. Not amazing, but okay. Even though I simmered the potatoes for the time suggested, they weren’t cooked all the way through and didn’t mash all the way. I didn’t mind them not being completely mashed because I like a chunkier soup but it ended up being a thinner soup than I was anticipating and I think that’s why. I did try to thicken it up with some cornstarch and it helped a little but still not creamy like I was wanting. As far as spices and herbs, the dill was PERFECT in my opinion. However, I had too much garlic and it made the soup a little darker and heavier than I had anticipated. I didn’t think my garlic press was working so I dumped some garlic powder in. For whatever reason I retried the press AFTER I already dumped in garlic powder and it worked so…I added the minced garlic in as well. I should have left it out but I always hear, “you can never have too much garlic”. Apparently that isn’t always true. My soup could have had a lighter, brighter taste with a thicker, creamier texture but I am so happy I experimented with it!

I want to touch on Dill Vitality essential oil from Young Living. I ordered it for a popcorn recipe and I was somewhat skeptical about it but it was easy enough to make so I went for it. From the moment I opened the bottle I was hooked. Just smelling it makes me happy!! To my surprise Dill Vitality essential oil has more uses than just being used for recipes. It can help aid in digestion and it can also help with weight management. If you rub some on your wrists, or simply smell it straight from the bottle like I do, it can help curb those cravings that get in the way of a healthy diet!

Honestly, I didn’t do anything special, aside from adding the Dill Vitality oil and some dried dill, I just followed the recipe on the almond milk soup base box. I did use a vegan butter rather than a cow’s milk butter to make it vegan. As far as the Dill, I added 2 drops of oil and about a half of a tablespoon of dried dill right after I added the vegetable broth and let it simmer. Once that was done, I added the soup base and another drop of dill vitality oil. At the very end I used some dried dill for garnish. I paired the soup with a fresh garden salad and fresh homemade drop biscuits. The meal was almost fully vegan, I had to use cow’s milk butter in the biscuits because I didn’t have enough of my vegan butter…wah waaaah.

20190220_180600
almond milk soup base
20190220_172321

 

And now what you’ve been waiting for…the recipe!!

Creamy Potato Dill Soup

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 onion, finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 2 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk soup base
  • 3 drops Young Living Dill Vitality Essential Oil
  • Dried dill for seasoning and garnish

Directions:

  1. Melt butter in large pot. Add onion, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 min.
  2. Add potatoes and garlic. Cook 1 min.
  3. Add vegetable broth and 2 drops of Dill Vitality oil and dried dill. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
  4. Mash potato mixture to desired consistency.
  5. Gradually stir in almond milk soup base and one more drop of Dill Vitality oil. Bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste and dried dill for garnish.

The soup wasn’t perfect but it was easy and there is promise for a better version…I definitely find beauty in that!!!

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Protein Pancakes with Juice Pulp

31 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by elizabethjones2411 in Food

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Tags

#Cuisinart, #healthyeating, #homemade, #juice, #juicepulp, #juicer, #protein, #proteinpancakes

A few years back I was introduced to protein pancakes. I know there are a lot of different versions but I really like this recipe and recently brought it back to life. There are just three main ingredients and then you can add more if you like.

This simple recipe calls for equal parts oats, egg whites (I use what I have on hand so full eggs it is), and cottage cheese.

I used to mix it all together and throw the cakes onto a heated griddle. But recently I decided to powder up my oats in my Cuisnart Portable Blender.

Once the oats are how I like them I add the eggs to the blender until mixed and then the cottage cheese. So simple! What’s even better is this recipe is easy to double!

Lately I’ve been juicing. A lot. I got into it years ago but recently got a used juicer for a great price and have been drinking at least one juice a day…I’m so proud of myself! With juicing comes pulp. I always feel guilty throwing it away. I might feel better if I had a compost, but I don’t. I started doing a little research on what to do with the pulp and low and behold, there is a ton you can do with it! I decided to throw it my protein pancakes.

The first round went great and everyone ate them up. They were a great consistency too! The second round this morning I was really nervous about. I added beets to my juice and when it came time to mix my batter with the pulp it turned bright red.

I was scared for a moment and thought “this didn’t happen yesterday!!??”…but duh, there were no beets in yesterday’s juice!!

However, I continued on to make 3 small cakes each for my little ones and 3 big cakes. One for myself and one each for the big kids. To my surprise, all the little ones gobbled them up, even though they were red!! (I’m sure it had everything to do with the taste of them and nothing at all to do with the little cups of syrup they had to dip into!! 😁) I was a happy momma!

They don’t look very pretty but they were good. I do think yesterdays batch came out better, consistency and flavor wise, but I would make the red cakes again. Like I said, the little ones ate them without complaint so I consider that a win!

I just love this recipe so much. It is easy, quick, and versatile. These pancakes can be made with just the three base ingredients, you can get crazy with add ins, and they can be savory or sweet!

Recipe:

1 cup oats

1 cup egg white or about 4 whole large eggs

1 cup cottage cheese

1-1 1/2 cups of juice pulp in medium sized bowl.

Add oats to a blender of your choice and powder them up. I like to use the pulse option because I have more control over the texture I end up with. Next, add eggs and pulse until blended together. Then add the cottage cheese and again, pulse until blended. Pour batter on top of pulp and hand mix. I like to add a little cinnamon at this point! Pour batter onto heater griddle and cook until done. Easy peasy!

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Chocolate Banana Bread

29 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by elizabethjones2411 in Food

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Tags

#backatit, #findthebeauty, #healthyeating, #homemade

This post was first written in September of 2015 and has been sitting as a draft ever since…WHOOPS!!! A month after drafting this post I found out I was pregnant with my third child.  Not much writing, planning, or crafting was done during that time or the first year after my son was born! But I am happy to say that a few months ago I got back into the swing of crafting with much thanks to my dad and aunts.  They bought me my first Cricut for my 40th birthday and I have been addicted to it since! Now that I have found my groove with my crafts I am ready to find my groove with writing….again.

I am starting with this past draft because after reading it over I realized how valuable it could be to someone who is wanting to implement some healthy baking into their homes.  I love finding different ways to make things healthy and this is a reminder for me that I’m not half bad at doing so! My only regrets with this post is that I failed to take a picture of the bread after it was baked and I haven’t made the bread since. So without further ado, here is my post from over 2 years ago…

I’ve been wanting to write about cooking and meal planning for a while and today I was moved to plan, cook and write. Today I’m going to share how I found a recipe and made it my own and healthy. Just a warning, I’m no professional!!! I’m definitely an amateur but I enjoy sneaking healthy stuff into our diet (I should probably do it way more often than I do) and this time EVERYONE loved the bread and no one suspected how healthy it actually was.

Today I baked chocolate banana bread with my little daycare children. They were so cute and more than willing to help out…and gobble up the bread at snack time! I had pinned a recipe for chocolate banana bread on Pinterest a while ago, but never got to it. Honestly, who REALLY does??

2015-09-09 20.50.54

Here’s the original recipe: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/259942209718832824/

While I’m a huge fan of sweets and junk food I want to feed my kids healthy food. I’ve been motivated lately to do so even more because my son has been eating really bad and he’s an athlete. He’s a typical teenager though and grabs whatever is easy and convenient to eat. If he has to prepare anything, forget it. Of course, there is always room for improvement. I’m by no means Miss Susie Homemaker and even though I have really good intentions, I’m not that consistent. As I read over this recipe I immediately saw where I could make some adjustments and substitutions and got to work.

2015-09-09 19.52.26

First, I gathered all of my ingredients and supplies. It just makes the process a little bit easier for me!

2015-09-09 19.49.41

Second, I measured everything out. Doing this made it easier for the little ones to help, and shortened their wait time while helping.

I have to say, watching little kids get excited about cooking is really sweet. They really do love learning and soak it all up. At one point there was a bunch of coconut flour on the table and my little guy was swooshing it all around the table, smelling it and clapping his hands so the flour would fly through the air. My little girl enjoyed smelling all of the ingredients and rubbing brown sugar through her fingers. Not only did they get to learn and experience cooking, but they got a sensory activity out of it as well!

Okay, back to the recipe…I’m going to begin by saying that the ingredients I have pictured I happened to have at home already, I did not go out and buy anything special. Also, this was a total experiment and I was kind of nervous. Sometimes I’ll substitute one ingredient, this time I substituted 3 ingredients and left out 3…talk about living on the edge!!! The three things I left out were the vanilla extract, the chocolate chunks and the mini chocolate chips. I know, I know. I left out three of the most important things, but I didn’t have any on hand, but I felt confident that what I was putting in was going to make a good banana bread.

Here are my substitutions:

3 ripe bananas –> 2 ripe bananas = That’s what I had and it worked out great!

1/2 cup unsalted butter –> 1/2 cup applesauce = So much healthier than butter, still maintains the moisture and adds a serving of fruit.  I use Indian Summer applesauce because it’s the only one that I’ve found that doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup in it. (EDIT: there are now many brands that offer applesauce without high fructose corn syrup)

1 cup all purpose flour –> 1 cup coconut flour =

1/2 cup cocoa powder –> 1/2 cup of Ovaltine = Again, I had it on hand. (My kids love Ovaltine and use it after work outs instead of traditional chocolate syrup and I don’t feel as bad letting them have it on a regular basis) I figure why not add some vitamins while we’re at it!

Added 2 tbsp of Chia seeds –> Why not add a little bit protein and fiber!

I followed the recipe, just with my substitutions, and put it in the oven. It turned out great and we had no left overs!

See ya’ next time!

 

 

 

 

 

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